Dispensing apparatus.



0. M. STIEGLER. v DISPENSING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15. I914. 1,163,571.

- Patented Dec. 7, 1915.

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Patented Dec. 7; 1915.

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DISPENSING APPARATUS.

Specification of Lettefs Patent.

Application filed July 15, 1914. Serial No. 851,198.

To all whom it may concern: 3e it known that I,-OSCAR M. STIEGLER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented an Improvement in Dispensing Apparatus, of which the following descriptiomin connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing re resenting like parts.

This invention relates to improvements in dispensing apparatus. and is particularly adapted to sanitary devices for dispensing sugar in dining rooms, cafes and self service restaurants.

It is very desirable that sugar and like articles of diet be protected from germs,

dust, lli'es, etc., and this is especially truein public dnnng rooms and restaurants and particularly of self service restaurants in which large numbers of people, some of whom are diseased, are constantly coming and going.

It well'knmvn that saccharine substances are especially attractive to flies and that they also form a basis for the rapid propagation of, various sorts of harmful germs.

One of the objects therefmr'e of this invention is to provide an ornamental container which is adapted for use upon dining room tables. counters of restaurants and partic ularly self service restaurants in which the contents will be protected from germs floating about in the atmosphere, from dust, moisture and fronrthe ,ravages of flies and other insects and to avoid the necessity of using a spoon which has been used by others.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus in which a measured amount of the contents may be ,delivered whereby only so much thereof will be furnished as the customer desires and waste avoided.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for delivering the sugar or other contents of the receptacle to a steaming cup without pern'iitting access of the steam to the interior of the receptacle whereby the sugar will be prevented from caking or from adhering to the sides of the container.

Other objects of the invention and the nature thereof will more fully appear from the following description and drawings and will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings; 11 igure 1 is afront elevation of one of the preferred forms of my invention, a portion thereof being in vertical section to Show the mechanism for measuring and delivering the contents of the container. Fig. 2 is a side elevation with a portion of the container and standard broken away, Fig. 3 is a plan view, Fig. l isa detail vertical sectional view. through the delivery chamber, and, Fig. 5 is a detail view of the lever for rotating the delivering scoops.

The preferred form of invention illus trated herein comprises a standard 1, which desirably may be circular in form and-provided with recesses 2 near its base to permit the insertion of cups. beneatlrthe delivery hopper, said standard supporting a reservoir or container which desirably may be of glass and provided with a removable cover and may be secured to the base by an internally screw threaded and flanged an nular support 5 secured to the upper portion of the base by screws (3 or other suitable fastenings. I

lhe upper portion of the standard may be provided with.two or more inclined chutes 7, 8, leading to preferably semi-circular delivery compartments 9, 10, which contain a measuring and dispensing device. The upper portion of each delivery chamber is desirably provided with a semi-circular cover 11, 12 which may be constructed of metal, glass or such other suitable material asmay be found desirable. Said covers maybe removably secured to the upper face of the delivery chamber casing in any suitable manner as by means of ears having suitable screws or by any other desired fastening.

The delivery mechanisms for all the compartments are desirably identicaland and-cscription of one will be sufiicient. Thistlelivery mechanism preferably comprises a ,se-

PatentedDec-fi, 1915.

ries of scoops 13 mounted upon a shaft 1i.

which desirably may be journalcd in a collared sleeve 15 set into a suitablerecess 1G in the outer wall 17 of the delivery chamber 9. the collar 18 of the sleeve abutting against the inner side of the wall 17 and the sleeve.-

being rigidly retained therein bynieans of a nut 19 screw threaded upon saidsleeve and abutting against the outer face of the Wall 17 and closing the recess 16. Rotation is imparted to the shaft 14 through aratchet llO trated herein the ratchet 20 is so formed j abutting against the side of the lever. The pawl 21 may be supported upon the lever 4' in any suitable manner. As illustrated here- 'in a rectangular slideway 26 is provided and the pawl 21 supported freely therein so that its weight will cause its inclined end to rest upon the periphery of the ratchet. It will be obvious that the oscillation of the lever 22 will cause the rotation of the Shaft 14 and the attached scoops 13.

The scoops 13 may of course be made in any desired form, I have however found that it is desirable to make the scoops and the arms which support the same from stampings of sheet metal such as aluminum,

.or other metal which is not easily corroded.

The entire number of scoops and the radial arms or spider which support the same may be conveniently made in two pressed out parts and the faces secured together to form the completed scoops by screws passing through the hub portion of said spider and into a flange 27 on the end of the shaft 14. The flanged end 27 of the shaft may be. retained in close contact with theend of the sleeve 15. by means of a spiral spring 28 interposed between the nut 19 upon the sleeve 15 and the innerface of the ratchet 20. The scoops 13 may be of any desirable size to deliver the quantity of sugar or other material and may if desired be provided with means whereby the amount discharged may be regulated. This may be accomplished. by

providing means for lengthening or shortening the body of the scoop or the base thereof or by a slot having means for adjusting its width located in the back of the scoop or any other desirable means.

In order to provide for the discharging of the scoopfuls of sugar into the cup or other receptacle and to prevent the steam from rising from the cup into the dispensing apparatus the semi-circular delivery chamber 9 is desirably provided with a normally closed communicating hopper so located that the scoops in their rotation will discharge into it. The closure for the hopper which may be of any character adapted to exclude steam and "moisture therefrom desirably is in the a spring 34 attached to the arm 32 and to a stud 35 uponthe side ofthectrsing. The s ring 34 should be of suflicipnt strength to. .c ose the gate tightlyand at pto'su rt the lever 22 which rests upon the lateral exten- 'sion 33 thereof. The amplitude of movement of the lever may be limited conveniently by studs 37, 38 projecting respectively into the'path of the lever 22 and an extension 39 thereof.

A cap plate or cover 36 may be attached .to the side of the casing of the delivery compartment to inclose the lever 22 and the mechanism to which it is attached and also to prevent the access of dust and light.

through the slot 16. The cap plate 36 is of course slotted to permit the handle of the lever 22 to project through the same so that it may be grasped by the operator and it should also be slotted to receive the arm 32.

In operation the top 4 of the container 3 isremoved and the container or'reservoirfilled with sugar or other similar substance. will be obvious that a sufficient quantity will run through the bottom thereof and down through the chute 7 to'partially fill the lower portion of the delivery chamber 9. The

oscillation of the lever 22 will cause the ro-' tation of the shaft 14 and the attached scoops 13 so that they will pass through the sugar in the delivery chamber and ill scoop up the amount of sugar for which they are calibrated. Upon each oscillation of the lever one scoopful of sugar will be discharged into the hopper and the final move'- ment of the lever will cause the hopperto open and discharge the same into the cup which hasbeen previously placed beneath The stand, thef chambers and the scoopsmay desirably .be made of silver plated metal, aluminum, white metal, or any other material which is not susceptible to corrosion and may of course be provided with any suitable ornamentation. The reservoir- 3 may be made of any suitable material but preferably is made of cut or other ornamented glass so that the article will be attractive in appearance when placed upon the table of the dining room or restaurant.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and-desire to secure by Let-- ters Patent is:

1. In a dispensing apparatus of the class described comprising a reservoir and a cylindrical delivery chamber having a normally closed discharge opening, a series of scoops rectangular in cross sectionhaving outer walls concentric with the axis of rotation, rotatably mounted in said delivery chamber, means for intermittently rotating said scoops through said chamber, a delivery tents of thescoo p and means for closing the gate upon the release of the lever.

. 2. In a dispensing apparatus of the class described comprising a reservoir and a delivery chamber having a normally closed discharge opening, a series of scoops rotatably mounted in said delivery chamber, for intermittently rotating 'said scoops through said chamber comprising a ratchet and lever, a delivery gate for said chamber, means connected with said gate adapted to be engaged by said lever during its final movement to open said gate to discharge the contents of said scoop, and means for closing the gate upon release of the lever.

3. In a dispensing apparatusof theclass described comprising a reservoir and a de livery chamber having a normally closed discharge opening, a series of scoops rotatably mounted in said delivery chamber,

means for intermittently rotating said scoops through said chamber comprising a ratchet and lever, a. delivery gate having an arm extending into the path of said lever whereby the final movement of the lever will open said gate to permit of the discharge of the contents of the scoop from the delivery chamber, a spring adapted to close the gate upon release of said lever.

4;. In an apparatus of the class described comprising a reservoir, a delivery chamber communicating therewith and a rotatable series of scoops mounted 111 said chamber upon a substantially horizontal shaft, a bearing sleeve for said shaft mounted in a slot in the wall ofthe delivery chamber and removably secured therein by a collar and a nut abutting upon opposite sides of said wall and means for rotating said shaft.

5. In an apparatus of the class described comprising a reservoir, a delivery chamber communicating therewith and a rotatable series of scoops mounted in said chamber upon av substantially horizontal shaft, a bearing sleeve for said shaft mounted in a slot in the wall of the delivery chamber and removably secured therein by a collar and a nut abutting upon opposite sides of said wall and means for rotating said shaft com prising a ratchet fixedly secured upon said shaft, a lever pivotally mounted upon said shaft and provided with a pawl engaging id ratchet and means for limiting the exnt of movement of said lever.

. 6. In an apparatus of the classdescribed a detachablereservoir, a plurality of relatively shallow cylindrical delivery compartments communicating therewith, a rotatable series of delivery scoops removably mounted 1n each reservoir and means independently operable for each series of scoops adapted to.

rotate the same to deliver the contents of the scoop from the delivery chamber.

.7. In a dispensing apparatus of the class described, a standard, a reservoir removably secured upon said standard, a plurality of oppositely disposed cylindrical delivery chambers having normally closed discharge openings, chutes connecting said reservoir with said delivery chambers, a series of measuring devices in each of said chambers, means for intermittently actuating said measuring device to cause the same to scoop up measured amounts .of the contents of the chamber and to deliver the same and means operable during the final movement of each scoop adapted to'open the discharge opening to deliver, the material from said chamber.

8. Ina dispensing apparatus of the class described, a standard, a reservoir removably secured upon'the said standard, oppositely disposed chutes leading from said reservoir and terminating in semi-cylindrical receptacles, semi-cylindrical caps for said receptacles adapted to constitute in connection with said semi-cylindrical receptacles, cylindrical delivery compartments, a radial. slot in the outer wall of said cylindrical deliverycompartment, a sleeve detachably mounted in said slot, a shaft in said sleeve, a series of measuring devices carried by said shaft and means for rotating the shaft.

of pressed half scoops connected by integral spiders and means for securing the hubs of said spiders together and to said shaft.

1 In testimony whereof, I have signed my 7 name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

OSCAR M. STIEGLER. Witnesses:

Fnnnnm'on A. TENNANT, THOMAS J. DRUMMOND. 

